Sizing up the slates

It’s way early, but here’s a quick comparison and analysis of the slates for Seton Hall and Rutgers, along with Hoops Haven’s knee-jerk projections of records for each club. As always, we encourage hoop-head feedback.

The schedules (listed below) are remarkably similar, with three exceptions:

1) Rutgers’ two glamour non-league games are much sexier (North Carolina and Florida), but Seton Hall’s (N.C. State and probably Virginia) are much more winnable.

2) Rutgers’ third home-and-home (Louisville, the best team in the Big East) is tougher than Seton Hall’s (Marquette).

3) Both clubs could easily start of 1-4 in Big East play, but Rutgers has the advantage of opening up with a potential confidence-builder against South Florida (albeit on the road), whereas Seton Hall gets a rugged home date with Connecticut, which is not vintage UConn but has had the Hall’s number for several years.

More analysis and our knee-jerk predictions…..

SETON HALLNon-conference highlight: The trip to the Palestra will be fun and telling. A sweep of Navy and Virginia (which almost certainly will beat a graduation-depleted Penn) would bode very well for a young group.Watch out for: The game at St. Mary’s. The Hall escaped last year, and now they meet across the country. We’re penciling in a loss here.Biggest game: The Big East opener — UConn on Jan. 3. A win will get the real season off to a rip-roaring start. A loss, and the Pirates are staring at 0-3 with trips to Marquette and Pitt following.Best stretch: The Hall has a chance to finish 4-1 over the final two weeks, closing with DePaul, at South Florida, at St. John’s, Syracuse and Rutgers at home. There’s some momentum heading into the postseason.Hoops Haven’s knee-jerk: 17-14 (10-3 non-conference, 7-11 Big East)

RUTGERSNon-conference highlight: Any time North Carolina comes to town (Dec. 16) it’s a huge deal. It’s also an added game on national television — which is a positive provided Rutgers doesn’t get its doors blown off.Watch out for: The game at St. Peter’s in the Jersey City Armory. The Peacocks are going to be pumped for this, they have a landmark freshman class coming in, and John Dunne knows a thing or two about Rutgers’ personnel.Biggest game: At Seton Hall on March 9, when the Scarlet Knights probably will need a win to make the Big East Tournament.Best stretch: Jan. 30 to Feb. 9, when the Scarlet Knights have Seton Hall, St. John’s and Cincinnati at home and Louisville on the road. No shot at Louisville, but it’s their best chance to win three out of four during any stretch of their league slate.Hoops Haven’s knee-jerk: 15-16 (10-3 non-conference, 5-13 Big East)